Babbling about books and plants.

Still Insane

Autumn is coming. Night temperatures are already down to 10 °C (50 °F) tonight, so I should start bringing my houseplants in from the balcony. Run around desperately rearranging plants, trying to find room for them all. Desperately try to get rid of some plants.

Instead, what do I do? Take cuttings that I won’t be able to sell until next year, that will take up precious space all winter.

And buy more plants:

… there are certain places I just shouldn’t go, because I’ll inevitably end up buying plants. I don’t remember what I was doing at the most nightmarish mall in the area, but after spending any amount of time in that crowded, noisy place, I need to comfort myself by looking at plants. And then… you know how it is… you pick something neat off the discount rack, and because you’re already spending money, you might as well spend a bit more…

Anyway, clockwise from the top:

– tagged as Pandanus latifolius, but as I guessed (since it was among the culinary herbs) it is actually P. amaryllifolius.

– Microsorumsteerei. I wasn’t sure if this would be a good idea (ferns and I don’t get along too well, and in fact I just killed another one), but it was marked down, and at € 2,99, I figured I could try. Hey, it’s a shiny bluish plant! Of course I’ll try!

– Parthenocissus something-or-other. The tag says henryana, but the pictures on Google don’t really match. Poking through my books, the one other species that is mentioned is P. striata, but those pictures don’t match either. In any case, I knew from the start that this wouldn’t be a good idea… the Vitaceae and I just don’t get along. Just ask my Cissuses if they like it at the Nettle Nest… they’ll answer by dropping the rest of their leaves. And the Tetrastigma is only happy when I water it every other day. Not something I normally do. And of course, in the two weeks or so I’ve had it, the Parthenocissus has already dried out repeatedly, and started dropping leaves. We’ll have fun together!